Doctor Who_ The Infinity Doctors - Lance Parkin [76]
She found it, and handed it over.
‘This is a TARDIS key,’ the Doctor said, after a quick examination. He jabbed his thumb behind his shoulder,
‘Savar’s TARDIS. The wardrobe that was out there?’
‘It can’t be,’ Larna said. ‘We got the key from your room, and we went to your room in his TARDIS. He already had the key for that one.’
‘In that case it must –’ the Doctor glanced over to the console. ‘You did switch off that energy pulse, didn’t you?’
Larna’s eyes widened. The two of them leapt at the console, flicking switches, working together to reroute the power circuits. Finally, the pitch of the time column changed.
‘Close thing there,’ the Doctor said, stepping away from the console and wiping his forehead with his handkerchief.
He moved past Larna to examine Savar.
The crew of the Station had set up time buffers and early warning systems. Time travel to and from this timezone was impossible now, except for the narrow channel they were using to connect with Gallifrey.
With the defences in place, it was time to explore. The Infinity Chamber’s observations were being hampered by the high concentrations of black holes and dark matter in the dying universe. The Magistrate had ordered that three TARDISes be sent out to map the dead universe. Lords Hemal, Quarduk and Norval were dispatched, each heading in a different direction. Information from their ships was relayed to the Station, where the Infinity Chamber began filling in the blanks in its model.
Hedin watched as the map began filling itself in. It was like picture restoration: scraping away the accumulated dust and dirt and soot from the candles to reveal the vibrant colours underneath.
The Magistrate hovered behind him, full of anticipation.
‘Why so impatient?’ Hedin asked.
‘I can feel it,’ the Magistrate told him. ‘Power. Gallifrey is on the brink of a discovery that will put it… well, who knows where?’
Hedin could feel it, too. Time Lords felt the flow of time as the lesser races felt the air against their skin. ‘But we are already by far the most powerful race in the universe. Isn’t that powerful enough?’
The Magistrate shook his head, a smile on his face.
‘A generation ago, the President thought as you did,’
Hedin said.
The Magistrate raised an eyebrow. ‘Really? I didn’t think his ambitions stretched beyond devising new ceremonies and procedures.’
‘He and I studied the Old Times together. The ROO texts, the legends of Rassilon and Omega.’
‘Back then, Gallifreyans were more adventurous.’
Hedin’s smile flickered. ‘That’s one way of looking at it, certainly.’
‘Not one that you share?’
‘No,’ Hedin said, almost apologetically. ‘For many years I have thought that the best thing about Gallifrey being the supreme power in the universe is that no one else is. Imagine Gallifrey’s might in the hands of the Daleks or the Faction Paradox. Better not to use the power than to use it unwisely.’
The Magistrate scowled. ‘If Rassilon had thought as you did.’
An alarm buzzed.
It was an urgent signal from Lord Norval.
He had found the Source.
The Doctor was bent over Savar. Unconscious, the blind face still seemed troubled, enraged. As the Doctor watched, a shadow lifted, and it was the real Savar again, the small mild, man.
‘It must be dawn,’ Larna said, inexplicably.
Savar’s eyes fluttered open. He was clearly disorientated and this was hardly helped by the Doctor looming over him.
So the Doctor leant a little closer.
‘Where am I?’
‘One of the power rooms,’ Larna said from across the room.
‘I didn’t –?’
The Doctor nodded down at him. ‘You most certainly did.’
He held out the key. ‘And it was all to do with this key. What’s so important about it?’
‘It opens the door of my TARDIS,’ Savar said.
‘Your original TARDIS? The one that was lost?’
‘That’s right.’
‘I take it you found it again. Where?’
‘There.’ Savar said, turning his head as much as he could to indicate the power display.
The Doctor glanced at it and frowned, before returning